Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 260220074
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 7732442230
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Women's Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,207,238
- Expenses
- $3,064,823
- Assets
- $1,173,715
- Liabilities
- $300,918
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Holly Verdeyen (Board President)
- George Haines (Board Vice President)
- Kaethe Morris Hoffer (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Kaethe Morris Hoffer (Executive Director): $139,649 total reported compensation
- Elizabeth Payne (Legal Director): $119,714 total reported compensation
- Christina Zuba (Managing Attorney): $114,241 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), is a nonprofit organization that envisions a community free from all forms of sexual exploitation, including sexual assault and commercial sex trade. CAASE addresses the culture, institutions and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation. CAASEs work includes prevention, policy, reform, community management, and legal services.
What it reported doing in 2024
Policy and Advocacy: CAASE advocates for legislative and policy reforms that will increase legal and social accountability for perpetrators of harm, especially sex traffickers, pimps, people who buy sex, and those who commit sexual assault. CAASE also promotes support for services and resources for survivors. CAASE advises law enforcement, policy makers, and other stakeholders on best practices relating to sex trafficking, prostitution, and rape.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 64% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 63
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 85
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 63.7%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.4%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 63.7% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $140K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.